Once again, it appears to be that CBS staffers are getting upset that they might have to investigate and report on relevant news. Apparently, Semafor (Ben Smith’s media outlet) is reporting that the horrible Bari Weiss wants to find out whether Michigan Democrat Senatorial candidate, ‘Stepstool’ Abdul El-Sayed, has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamofascist movement that has many branches that are designated terrorist groups. We think Michigan voters deserve to know one way or the other, Bari Weiss thinks the same thing, but apparently CBS reporters don’t and are whining to Semafor about it. We first caught wind of this via Chuck Ross:
Lol. CBS staffers are leaking to Semafor now b/c Bari Weiss had the audacity to ask her reporters to look into Abdul El-Sayed's ties to Muslim Brotherhood. How dare she!
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 19, 2026
This would be a story only if Weiss forced them to report something that wasn't true. Otherwise, it's… pic.twitter.com/A2QIJnW30N
The cut off text:
Otherwise, it’s activism. And Semafor shouldn’t treat these losers as if they have a valid complaint.
This appears to come from this article, here:
.@maxwelltani on CBShttps://t.co/PcCo5uNKuH pic.twitter.com/UnwcLhHzmL
— Ben Smith (@semaforben) October 19, 2026
But we will note that much of the text Mr. Ross attached as pictures doesn’t appear in the final text. We don’t think he is making it up: We suspect that the article had been stealth edited, but we have not been able to verify that. In any case, this is what Semafor is saying, as of this writing:
Control of the US Senate for the next two years could come down to how much the news media chooses to focus in the final weeks of the midterms on a tweet sent years ago by the younger half-sister of Michigan’s Democratic Senate candidate.
In 2012, Abdul El-Sayed’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, described ‘an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early ‘70s.’ Republicans and members of the media have since pressed El-Sayed, an American of Egyptian descent, to answer whether he has ties to the Islamist movement, which was founded in Egypt and whose offshoots include US-designated terrorist groups.
The subject is of particular interest at CBS News, where Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has repeatedly encouraged the network’s journalists to dedicate serious resources to finding a potential link.
In recent weeks, Weiss has personally advocated for CBS News journalists to pursue numerous story angles related to El-Sayed’s supposed sympathy towards the Muslim Brotherhood, and was directly involved in a controversial story about his previous posts comparing the COVID-19 death toll to 9/11. She has discussed the topic on editorial calls, and tasked CBS News’ investigative unit with combing through El-Sayed’s background for a potential link to the organization. The network’s investigative team is set to publish a story in the coming days on the subject, though two people familiar with the reporting said that as of Sunday afternoon, it was unclear whether the story will include new revelations.
In other words, she has asked them to do journalism. *Faints on couch.*
It goes on to say that even though a lot of tension over politics has eased, they are still mad over Weiss’ not thinking Israel is the new Nazi Germany:
Rank-and-file staff have clashed with editors installed by Weiss over Gaza, leaking embarrassing internal network discussions about coverage — such as last week, when the media-focused news startup Status and Guardian media reporter Jeremy Barr reported on a clash between CBS News’ London bureau and foreign editor Shayndi Raice.
Weiss has taken a particularly hands-on approach to the Michigan Senate race, where campaign rhetoric has revolved around El-Sayed’s Muslim faith, and whether he can win over Jewish voters in the state. The Hollywood Reporter reported last month that Weiss faced criticism internally for ‘overseeing an article that critics say falsely insinuated Michigan’s Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed had ties to the September 11 attacks.’
Some CBS News staff have privately grumbled that Weiss is particularly focused on pursuing theories about high-profile progressive candidates that bubble up on X or in right-leaning news outlets. Weiss also tasked staff with pursuing the theory that Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was in a mental health facility after he disappeared from the campaign trail for over a week in October.
Oh noes! They didn’t just take the candidate at his word! Mind you, the article notes that they didn’t publish anything that was wrong, but oh no! They investigated Talarico.
Indeed, that reminds us of the time that Mike Cernovich pwned Scott Pelley on his own show when discussing Hillary Clinton’s health during the 2016 campaign:
Somehow Pelley took it as gospel that Hillary had pneumonia when his only evidence was that the campaign said it was so. We can’t get over the fact that they actually aired this segment when Cernovich made him look so bad. Love or hate Cernovich, but he won that round.
Back to the article:
Two CBS News staffers complained that the network has focused on pursuing thin theories about progressive candidates but hasn’t treated conservatives the same way.
‘Bari’s ideas routinely come from social media influencers or from opposition research that’s been placed in conservative outlets, and those stories usually leave out important context and facts,’ one CBS News staffer in New York told Semafor. ‘She seems more suited to editing at publications like City Journal, The Free Press, or The [Washington] Free Beacon, which take a clear side on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and match her views.’
It’s unclear whether the network’s pursuit of the Muslim Brotherhood story will impact its ability to engage with El-Sayed.
That last sentence touches on one of the worst trends in modern media: Figures controlling how they are seen in the media by withholding access. But that is a larger topic for another day, except to say that if he cancels, CBS News should blast that fact everywhere.
But the complaint that CBS News is worried about biased coverage and reduced scrutiny of Republicans is uniquely rich. A regular readers know, this is the same network that gave us Rathergate, where they put obviously forged document on the air just before the 2004 election, in a naked attempt to help the Democrats. This is the same people who forged an interview with Kamala Harris, by editing her answers to try to make her sound more coherent. And this is the same network that only interviewed Tara Reade — the woman who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault — for the Australian version of 60 minutes. That is, they felt it was of sufficient interest to the people of Australia to hear from the woman who accused Biden of sexual assault, but they didn’t think it was worth bothering the American people with that information.
So, CBS News has been putting their thumbs on the scales of American politics in favor of Democrats for years. Arguably a little pro-Republican or pro-conservative bias could be classified as reparations.
And, we will add, that there is no ‘both sides’ between Israel and Hamass. Naturally, Israel isn’t perfect, but they have bent over backwards to avoid civilian casualties to a degree we think is unwise, while Hamass put genocide in its charter and commits war crimes on the regular. Spare us. For instance, there is no way to believe Israel committed genocide since October 7, 2023 without trusting Hamass as a source — either directly or indirectly. And why the frak would you do that? More importantly, why would any person purporting to be a journalist do that? Hamass should not be treated as a reliable source of information.
Some reactions:
Because if a Republican candidate had loose ties to an extremist right wing group, it definitely wouldn’t be a story the media would chase. Totally off-limits, no matter how dubious the link.
— Darrin (@dbmccaskill) October 19, 2026
Seriously.
Meet 'Tommy' from the viral El-Sayed video, a former Sen. Hawley staffer with Christian nationalist ties.
— 🫂Democratic_Socialists_Of_America (@LIBERALAF4EVER) October 19, 2026
Thomas Teepell is the son of a former long-time Bobby Jindal staffer who's close to Sean Feucht.
The Handbaskethttps://t.co/sKhKb6SVtU pic.twitter.com/QQBjrBl87R
Who cares who he is? He asked a question. Anyone could have asked it and it needed to be asked. He can’t help that Stepstool Abdul gave a bad answer. Did he not know the question was coming?
I’m trying to think what folks would say if a pro-Palestine Muslim head of CBS News asked CBS staff to dig up dirt on a prominent pro-Israel Jewish candidate. https://t.co/PggZwYSyg1
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 19, 2026
It wouldn’t be equivalent. Equating the Muslim Brotherhood with Israel is simply insanity. It’s like comparing Gordon Ramsey with Jeffrey Dahmer because they both like to cook.
Judith Miller was pushed out of the NYT for printing unverified intelligence claims.
— Omar Elayat (@oelayat) October 19, 2026
Printing damaging unverified Israeli intelligence claims, whether out of malice or ideology, now gets you a promotion to run foreign coverage at Bari's CBS. https://t.co/qGlEOfQlT7 pic.twitter.com/U7GM8uRnnu
Why are you assuming that what they would publish would be unverified? The article is complaining about having to investigate at all.
I would like to assert that my reporting on El-Sayed for the @FreeBeacon has been rigorous.https://t.co/pqLDzyDKNx
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) October 19, 2026
Our only problem with Free Beacon is that this author’s dyslexic mind sometimes sees it as Free Bacon and then we get disappointed when we realize there is no bacon.
Otherwise, they seem solid. But could they please send us some bacon?
The real scandal is all the media outlets who are not investigating the extent to which El-Sayed is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, given his family’s long-standing ties and his support for the short-lived MB government in Egypt’s authoritarian crackdown on dissent. https://t.co/4gHqWetayX
— David Bernstein (@ProfDBernstein) October 19, 2026
Proving the point I made the other day: https://t.co/Imfkk7K2ZS
— AG (@AGHamilton29) October 19, 2026
These tantrums are all about the left-wing activists in these newsrooms feeling entitled to controlling what gets reported at major news orgs and their main objection is that other accurate and newsworthy… https://t.co/6gvudKL7ZC
The cut off text:
… their main objection is that other accurate and newsworthy perspectives might now be considered at CBS News.
Pretty much. And this is what he said ‘the other day:’
The entire continued freakout over @bariweiss and CBS News is simply because the left believes they are entitled to controlling the media narrative and feel threatened that even one major news organization might present the other side.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) October 15, 2026
If you follow the news closely, you will…
The cut off text:
If you follow the news closely, you will see that they act like a herd and always cover the same stories from the same perspectives. Far more important is what they choose not to cover. The factual stories and perspectives that they simply ignore because they don’t fit the narratives that the so many of the activists in their news and editorial rooms prefer.
They don’t even want people exposed to those stories/views if it’s not coming from outlets they can dismiss like FNC or the NY Post because it might allow people who aren’t openly partisan choose how they understand these issues for themselves. That’s the entire threat.
It’s not that CBS News might become ideologically right-wing. There is zero evidence Weiss is pushing for them to only report things from that perspective and plenty of evidence that’s not true. It’s simply that it could expose people to the other side, and that can’t be allowed.
So the tantrums will continue.
It’s equally why they hate Musk with a white-hot passion: They had social media sewn up. They could even ban a sitting president. And then Musk upended everything and he didn’t exactly institute free speech, but rather, he just reduced the level of discrimination against conservatives. And with the playing field a bit more level, the Left started losing many of its debates.
Or, more succinctly:
For reporters who are partisan hacks, the return to objective journalism can be disorienting.
— Burkeman (@18thcentdude) October 19, 2026
Pretty much. Except we think for most of them becoming objective isn't a return. It's uncharted territory.
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